Acoustic ceiling



May 19, 1970 R. E. HARZ ACOUSTIC cmmm 3 SheetS Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14.1968 INVENTOR. RICHARD E. HARZ Pvnbxaue s If-"2; E, H ARZ AcousTIcCEILING May 19,1970 1 1 3 Sheet s-Sheet 2 Filed' 00 14, 11968 INVENTOR.RICHARD E. HARZ FIG. :5

'M 19,197o gig: 3,512,31

- v ACOUSTIC CEILING v Filed Oct. 14, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.RICHARD E. HARZ FIG.6 Z, 22

ATFOEU 12x15 United States Patent U.S. Cl. 52-28 9 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A suspended ceiling support system for supportingacoustical ceiling panels and lighting fixtures wherein the lightingfixtures are disposed within a trough formed by angularly disposed andsupported ceiling panels of the system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore, it has "been common practice inproducing an acoustical ceiling system to suspend acoustic panels froman existing ceiling or joist structure so that all of the acousticpanels lie in the same generally horizontal plane spaced from andgenerally parallel to the existing ceiling or the joist structure. Withthis type of construction, a substantial portion of the area of theceiling is lost insofar as the use of the acoustical panels areconcerned, since certain areas of the ceiling are occupied by lightingand ventilating fixtures.

One of the solutions to the problem has been to form the acousticalpanels of translucent material and to mount the lighting fixturesbetween the acoustic panels and the main ceiling. With such a structure,the maintenance of the lighting means was difiicult since they were notdirectly accessible from the floor of the room.

The above problem was solved by a system illustrated and described inUS. Pat. No. 3,321,877 entitled Acoustic Ceiling, S. T. Alexieff, issuedMay 30, 1967, wherein a plurality of individually removable acousticpanels is arranged at an angle to the plane passing through the lowerportion of the acoustic panels to form a downwardly opening space ofincreasing cross-sectional area between the acoustic panels to provideincreased acoustic panel area and resultant increased sound energyabsorption. Also, the recessed space into which the lighting fixtureswere placed provides for easy access from the floor of a room, and theadjacent panels serve as reflectors to increase the uniformity of thelight distribution, the amount of illumination, the efiiciency ofillumination, and substantially eliminates the objectionable directglare.

The present invention, while embodying all of the advantages of theprior systems, provides an acoustic ceiling wherein the acoustic panelsare supported by means which are not observable from below the panels,and thereby presents to the viewer a substantially monoacoustic ceilingsystem. Further, the suspension system of the present invention can beutilized with conventionaljT-support rails, with a minor additionwithout any considerable expense and with a minimal amount of labor.

SUMMARY Typically, the objects and advantages of the invention areachieved by a suspended ceiling system comprising a plurality ofacoustic panels; support rail means disposed in parallel spaced relationto one another; means for suspending said support rail means from anoverhead 3,512,313 Patented May 19, 1970 support; splay angle stripsattached to facing sides of said support rail means for removablysupporting the lower marginal edges of at least two of said panels; atleast one cross member of inverted U-shape configuration bridging thespace between the support rail means and having the terminal endsthereof fixedly secured to respective ones of the support rail means;means for suspending the cross member from an overhead support; alighting fixture; and means for attaching the lighting fixture to thecross member intermediate the terminal ends thereof and having angularlydepending support means cooperating with the splay angle strips forremovably supporting the upper marginal edges of the panels whereby thepanels are adapted to be supported beneath the cross member in such afashion that the distance between the lower marginal edges of the panelsis greater than the distance between the upper marginal edges of thepanels. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above, as well as otherobjects and advantages of the invention, will become readily apparent tothose skilled in the art from reading the following detailed descriptionof an embodiment of the invention when considered in the light of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a ceiling system employingthe features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the support system for theceiling illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the attachment means for thesupport rail member, the splay angle strip, and the associated crossmember which cooperate to support the bottom of the angularly disposedacoustic panel;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a portion of the ceiling suspension systemillustrated in FIG. 1, showing a typical lighting fixture for use in thesystem;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the ceiling illustrated in FIG. 1, takenalong line 55 thereof; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a modification of thestructure illustrated in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5 of thedrawings, there is illustrated an acoustic ceiling system suspended inspaced relation from an existing ceiling 10 of a building structure byany well known means such as, for example, wires 12. The ceiling systemincludes at least one pair of spaced apart longitudinal rail members 14and 16; and transverse rail members 18. The rail members 14, 16, and 18are typically generally of inverted T-shaped cross-sectionalconfiguration, and often referred to as T members. The rail members eachhave an upstanding web portion 20 with a bead 22 formed along the uppermarginal edge thereof, and oppositely extending ledge portions 24 and 26at the opposite lower marginal edge. The rail members are suspended in agrid arrangement, as generally illustrated in FIG. 1, from the overheadanchorage such as the ceiling 10 by hanger wires 28 typically by loops30 engaged in spaced openings formed in the beads 22.

Horizontally disposed acoustic ceiling panels 32 of bonded mineralfibers, for example, are suspended on the ledges 24 and 26 of thelongitudinal and transverse rail members.

Bridging the space between the adjacent lengitudinal rail members 14 and16 is a cross member 34, which is generally of inverted U-shape, havingangularly upwardly extending legs 36 and 38 and a substantiallyhorizontally disposed base section 40 joining the uppermost ends of thelegs 36 and 38. Suitably secured to the base section 40 of the crossmember 34 is a lighting fixture supporting bracket 42. The distal endsof the legs 36 and 38 are provided with extended surface sections 44 and46, respectively, for attachment to the respective longitudinal railmembers 14 and 16.

Prior to the cross member 34 being attached to the longitudinal railmembers 14 and 16, which are conventional and may be of the typeillustrated in US. Pat. 3,343,310 entitled Overhead Ceiling StructureWith an Integral Fixture Assembly, N. Netz, et al., issued Sept. 26,1967, splay angle strips 48 and 50 are suitably secured to the railmembers. The strips 48 and 50 are substantially identical with oneanother and can satisfactorily be formed of an extruded plastic materialor of suitably formed sheet metal, for example. The strips 48 and 50 areformed to have a vertically extending web portion 52 having spaced tabsformed therein which are adapted to fit into apertures or slots formedin the web portions 20 of the associated rail member; a horizontallyextending Web portion 54 adapted to be supported by the upper surface ofthe ledges 24; and an angularly upwardly extending portion 56 adaptedt-o support the lower marginal edge of acoustic ceiling panels, as willbe explained in greater detail hereinafter. In the preferred embodiment,the vertically extending web portion 52; the horizontally extending webportion 54; and the angularly upwardly extending portion 56 arecoextensive with one another.

The splay angle strips 48 and 50 may be secured to their respectivelongitudinal rail members 14 and 15 either at the point of manufactureor in the field before or after installation and suspension of the railmembers. It will be appreciated that the splay angle strips may beeasily employed with the conventional rail members to accommodate thesame for use in ceiling structures of the invention in newinstallations, as well as existing installations which are to bemodified to accommodate the new ceiling of the invention.

The distal ends 44 and 46 of the cross member 34 are attached to theirrespective rail members in the same fashion, and reference will only bemade herein to the attachment technique of the distal end 44 and the leg36 to the rail member 14 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5. In onetechnique of installation, the splay angle strip 48 is positionedagainst the rail member 14 such a fashion that one of the aperturestherein align with a similar aperture in the upstanding web portion 52,and the tab of the distal end 44 of the leg 36 of the cross member 34 isinserted into the aligned slots or apertures and bent over by anysuitable tool. It will be appreciated that the terminal end of thetransverse rail member 18 is adapted to be received within the alignedapertures as illustrated in FIG. 2. After the distai ends 44 and 46 ofthe cross member 34 are properly secured to the longitudinal railmembers 14 and 16, the wires 12 are employed to cooperate with the wires28 to adequately support the entire grid arrangement.

Next, a lighting fixture 60 is secured to the bracket 42 by wing nuts62, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. The lighting fixture 6-9 typicallycontains a cover plate 64, fluorescent tube sockets 66, fluoroescenttubes 68, lens support rails 70, and a light diffusing lens 72. Thecover plate 64 is aflixed to a base 74 having downwardly and outwardlyangled marginal edges 76 and 78 for supporting the upper marginal edgesof acoustic ceiling panels which have their lower marginal edgessupported by the splay angle strips 48 and 50, respectively, asillustrated in FIG. 5.

Acoustic ceiling panels 80, similar to the horizontally disposed panels32, are positioned in side-by-side relation in such a fashion that thelower marginal edges of one row of panels rest on, and are supported by,the splay angle member 48 mounted on the T rail member 14, and the uppermarginal edges rest on the angled edges 76; and the lower marginal edgesof the other of panels rest on, and are supported by, the splay anglemember 50 mounted on the T rail member 16, and the upper marginal edgesrest on the angled edges 78. With such disposition, the angularlydisposed ceiling panels 80 form a trough at the apex of which isdisposed a series of lighting fixtures 60. The exposed surfaces of theceiling panels 80 are typically faced with an aesthetic light reflectingmateriai such as paint, vinyl sheeting, or the like, which provides anincreased light reflecting surface to improve the overall lightingefliciency of the ceiling system.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the means for attaching the distalend of 44 of the leg 36' of a cross member and a splay angle strip 48'to a longitudinally extending rail member 14', wherein the members arefastened together by a pair of spaced apart threaded fasteners 82.

It will be appreciated from considering the above description and theaccompanying drawings that the invention provides a suspended ceilingsystem which may be economically manufactured and readily installed withmeans for upwardly mounting equipment such as lighting fixtures, whichare readily accessible for maintenance, wherein no vertically extendingsupport means for the ceiling panels is visible to the viewer, and usemay be readily made of conventional T rail members, which may be adaptedfor the ceiling system of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a suspended ceiling system comprising:

a plurality of acoustic ceiling panels;

support rail means disposed in parallel spaced relation to one another;

means suspending said support rail means from an overhead support;

spiay angle strips attached to facing sides of said support rail meansremovably supporting the lower marginal edges of at least two of saidpanels;

at least one cross member bridging the space between said support railmeans and having terminal ends thereof secured to respective ones ofsaid support rail means;

a lighting fixture; and

means attaching said lighting fixture to said cross member intermediatethe terminal ends thereof and in dependent relation thereto, saidfixture having angularly depending support means in alignment withportions of said splay angle strips removably supporting the uppermarginal edges of said panels whereby said panels are supported beneathsaid cross member, the distance between the lower marginal edges of saidpanels being greater than the distance between the upper marginal edgesof said panels.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said cross member is in theshape of -a yoke.

3. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said cross member is ofinverted U-shape configuration.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 including means for suspending saidcross member from an overhead support.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said support rail meanscomprises at least a pair of elongate members having an upstanding Webportion and oppositely extending ledge portions for supporting saidmarginal edges of said ceiling panels.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein the web portion of saidsupport rail means is provided with a plurality of spaced apertures.

7. The invention defined in claim 6 wherein the terminal ends of saidcross members are provided with fastening means cooperating with theapertures of the Web portion of said support rail means for securing theterminal ends of said cross member to respective ones of said elongatemembers.

8. The invention defined in claim 6 wherein the fastening meanscomprises horizontally extending tabs at spaced intervals correspondingto the spaced apertures of the Web portion of said support rail means.

9. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said angularly dependingsupport means for removably supporting the upper marginal edges of saidpanels is disposed at an angle complementary to the angle of said splayangle strips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, PrimaryExaminer S. D. BURKE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

